Doll stroller



y 1963 R. v. RUTKOWSKI 3,090,636

DOLL STROLLER Filed March 19, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f Fig.1 44

7 Z 35 46 (F I 4 L 38 34 16214922 for: C 6 502725)? l/faZf/fawsfik, up? 2 --/0 www #1: l 7 4 as /2 36 44 artOTIRL yS May 21, 1963 R. v. RUTKOWSKI DOLL STROLLER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 19, 1962 3,099,636 DOLL STROLLER Roman V. Rutlrowski, South Bend, 1nd, assignor to South Bend Toy Manufacturing Co., inc, South Bend, Ind. Filed Mar. 19, 1962, Ser- No. 188,775 3 Claims. (Cl. 28ii47.38)

The present invention relates to a doll stroller and more particularly to a doll stroller having a detachable body.

In the design of doll strollers and carriages, it is obviously desirable closely to simulate the appearance of the real vehicle used for babies. Since such doll strollers and carriages as toys are generally low cost items, it is desirable that they be characterized by structural simplicity, economy of manufacture, and low cost; however, the structure must still be durable to withstand handling by children and possess closely the same functional characteristics as the real item.

It is an object of this invention to provide a doll stroller or carriage construction which simulates the appearance and function of the real counterpart but which is simple in design, economical to manufacture and durable in construction.

:It is another object of this invention to provide a doll stroller having a detachable body wherein the stroller chassis and the body frame structurally cooperate to provide an integrated and durable assembly.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a stroller construction having a body which may be detachably mounted on a chassis in ltWO alternative positions.

Other objects will become apparent as the description proceeds.

The above-mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of an embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof with the body removed and the handle of the chassis broken away for clarity of illustration;

FIG. 3 is a perspective illustration of the body itself;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the body of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary partially sectioned side elevation showing the manner of attaching the body frame to the chassis of the stroller.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, a chassis or supporting frame comprises four legs 10, 12, 14 and 16 which are assembled in pairs, legs and 12 constituting one pair and legs 14 and 16 constituting the other pair. The legs are crossed in scissors fashion with the pair 10, 12 being secured together intermediate the ends thereof by means of a rivet 18 and the pair 14, 16 being secured together by a rivet 20. At the lower ends, the two legs 10 and 14 are connected together by transverse bar 22 while the legs 12 and .16 are connected together by another transverse bar 24. The upper ends of the two legs 10 and 14 are extended upwardly and are connected together at the top by means of a handlebar 26.

Secured to the upper ends of the leg pairs 16, 12 and 14, 16 are two elongated, fiat, rigid, horizontally extending rails 30 and 32 which me secured at the opposite ends thereof to the upper ends of the leg pairs, the bar 39 being secured to legs 10 and 12, respectively, and the bar 32 being secured to the legs 14 and 16, respectively.

Suitable right angle brackets 34, shown more clearly B-fidfiiifi Patented May 21, 1963 in FIG. 5, are used to secure the opposite ends of the rails 30 and 32 to the respective legs, rivets 36 securing the brackets 34 to the legs. Preferably, the rails 30 and 32 are welded to the horizontal flanges of the brackets 34 such that the rails themselves will have the flat sides thereof lying in the same horizontal plane. As shown more clearly in FIG. 2, the rails 31) and 32 are spaced apart and parallel and are fabricated preferably of steel bar stock. Intermediate the ends of the two rails 30 and 32 are secured two upright posts 38 and 41 respectively, which serve a purpose which will be explained more fully later on.

Journaled in the lower ends of the two legs 10 and 14 is an aXle 42 which carries on the outer ends thereof a pair of wheels 44. Similarly, another axle 46 is journaled in the lower ends of the two legs 12 and 16 and carry on the outer ends thereof two additional wheels 48.

Referring now more specically to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, a stroller body indicated generally by the reference numeral 50 consists of a U-shaped frame fabricated of steel tubing or the like and having spaced-apart and parallel side arms 52 and 54 which are connected together by a cross bar 56. These side arms 52 and 54 are spaced apart a distance which is identical to the spacing between the two side rails 30 and 32 previously described. Attached to the U-shaped frame 52, 54, 56 is a fabric body having opposite, depending lateral sides 58 which are attached by means of rivets 6G to the inner sides of the two side arms 52 and 54 and a backrest 62 suitably fastened to the rear ends of the side arms. A web 64 is connected between the crossbar 56 and the front edge of the bottom 56 of the body as shown.

Each of the side arms 52 and 54, as more clearly shown in FIG. 4, has in the underside thereof and intermediate the ends an aperture 68, '70, this aperture being of substantially the same diameter as that of the individual posts 38 and 40.

The body 50 is assembled to the chassis as more clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. In this assembly, the side arms 52 and 54 of the body frame rest on top of the respective rails 3t) and 32 and extend in parallelism therewith. The apertures 68 and 70 in the side arms receive the two posts 38 and 40, respectively, as more clearly shown in FIG. 5, the fit between these apertures and posts being frictional to attach more firmly the body frame to the chassis.

When it is desired to remove the body 50 from the chassis, it is only necessary to lift the body from the chassis with enough force to overcome the frictional fit between the apertures 68 and 70 and the two posts 38 and 40.

As shown in FIG. 1, the body 50 is positioned on the chassis such that the doll riding therein will face forwardly. However, if the child desires the doll to ride rearwardly, it is only necessary to remove the body from the chassis, turn it and then place it back on the chassis with the two apertures 68 and 70 receiving the two posts 38 and 40 as previously explained. It is thus seen that the simple construction herein involved permits an equally simple manipulation for placing the body 5% in either of two riding positions.

As shown more clearly in FIG. 2, the supporting rails 30 and 32 have no direct connections therebetween which will prevent relative movement thereof toward and away from each other. However, when the body frame 52, 54 is mounted on the side rails and the apertures 68 and 70 are fitted over the two posts 38 and 46, it is seen that a direct connection is provided between the rails which holds them against movement toward and away from each other. By providing this means of attaching the body to the chassis, it is not necessary to provide frame elements tying directly the two rails 39 and 32 together whereupon an economy in structure and manufacture is realized by the elimination of these frame elements. This arrangement therefor contributes to maintaining simplicity of design and economy of manufacture which are so desirable in the commercial exploitation of toys such as the doll stroller herein disclosed.

While I have described above the principles of my invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of my invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A stroller comprising a chassis having two pairs of crossed legs, said pairs lying in two planes, respectively, which are spaced apart and parallel, the legs of each pair being connected together intermediate the ends at the crossing thereof, the forwardly disposed lower extremities of one leg of each pair being connected together by a first crossbar, the rearwardly disposed lower extremities of the other leg of each pair being connected together by a second crossbar, a wheel mounted on the lower extremity of each of said legs, two elongated flat horizontally extending side rails arranged in a common horizontal plane and being spaced apart and parallel, one of said rails being connected at its opposite ends between the upper ends of one pair of said legs, the other or said rails being connected at its opposite ends between the upper ends of the other pair of said legs, each rail having between its ends an upstanding post thereon, a rigid U-shaped body frame having two parallel side arms which are spaced-apart by substantially the same distance as said side rails and are connected together at one end by a third crossbar, a fabric body having opposite lateral substantially parallel sides and a bottom, said body sides being suspended from the inner sides of said side arms, respectively, said side arms each having an aperture in the underside thereof and between the ends thereof, said body frame being mounted on said chassis with said side arms resting on and engaging said rails throughout their lengths, respectively, and extending in parallelism therewith, the aperture in each side arm frictionally receiving the post of the respective rail, whereby said body frame is secured to said chassis and said side rails are secured against relative movement toward and away from each other.

2. A stroller comprising a chassis having two pairs of crossed legs, said pairs lying in two planes, respectively, which are spaced apart and parallel, the legs of each pair being connected together intermediate the ends at the crossing thereof, the forwardly disposed lower extremities of one leg of each pair being connected together by a first crossbar, the rearwardly disposed lower extremities of the other legs of each pair being connected together by a second crossbar, two elongated horizontally extending side rails arranged in a common horizontal plane and being spaced apart and parallel, one of said rails being connected at its opposite ends between the upper ends of one pair of said legs, the other of said rails being connected at its opposite ends between the upper ends of the other pair of said legs, each rail having between its ends an upstanding post thereon, a rigid U-shaped body frame having two parallel side arms which are spaced apart by substantially the same distance as said side rails and are connected together at one end by a third crossbar, a body supported by said body frame, said side arms each having an aperture in the underside thereof and between the ends thereof, said body frame being mounted on said chassis with said side arms resting on and engaging said rails throughout their lengths,

respectively, and extending in parallelism therewith, the aperture in each side arm frictionally receiving the post of the respective rail, whereby said body frame is secured to said chassis and said side rails are secured against relative movement toward and away from each other.

3. A stroller comprising a chassis having two pairs of crossed legs, said pairs lying in two planes, respectively, which are spaced apart and parallel, the legs of each pair being connected together intermediate the ends at the crossing thereof, two elongated horizontally extending side rails arranged in a common horizontal plane and being spaced apart and parallel, one of said rails being connected at its opposite ends between the upper ends of one pair of said legs, the other of said rails being connected at its opposite ends between the upper ends of the other pair of said legs, each rail having between its ends an upstanding post thereon, a rigid U-shaped body frame having two parallel side arms which are spaced-apart by substantially the same distance as said side rails, a body supported by said body frame, said side arms each having an aperture in the underside thereof and between the ends thereof, said body frame being mounted on said chassis with said side arms resting on and engaging said rails throughout their lengths, respectively, and extending in parallelism therewith, the aperture in each side arm receiving the post of the respective rail, whereby said body frame is secured to said chassis and said side rails are secured against relative movement toward and away from each other,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS when. 

1. A STROLLER COMPRISING A CHASSIS HAVING TWO PAIRS OF CROSSED LEGS, SAID PAIRS LYING IN TWO PLANES, RESPECTIVELY, WHICH ARE SPACED APART AND PARALLEL, THE LEGS OF EACH PAIR BEING CONNECTED TOGETHER INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS AT THE CROSSING THEREOF, THE FORWARDLY DISPOSED LOWER EXTREMITIES OF ONE LEG OF EACH PAIR BEING CONNECTED TOGETHER BY A FIRST CROSSBAR, THE REARWARDLY DISPOSED LOWER EXTREMITIES OF THE OTHER LEG OF EACH PAIR BEING CONNECTED TOGETHER BY A SECOND CROSSBAR, A WHEEL MOUNTED ON THE LOWER EXTREMITY OF EACH OF SAID LEGS, TWO ELONGATED FLAT HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING SIDE RAILS ARRANGED IN A COMMON HORIZONTAL PLANE AND BEING SPACED APART AND PARALLEL, ONE OF SAID RAILS BEING CONNECTED AT ITS OPPOSITE ENDS BETWEEN THE UPPER ENDS OF ONE PAIR OF SAID LEGS, THE OTHER OF SAID RAILS BEING CONNECTED AT ITS OPPOSITE ENDS BETWEEN THE UPPER ENDS OF THE OTHER PAIR OF SAID LEGS, EACH RAIL HAVING BETWEEN ITS ENDS AN UPSTANDING POST THEREON, A RIGID U-SHAPED BODY FRAME HAVING TWO PARALLEL SIDE ARMS WHICH ARE SPACED-APART BY SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME DISTANCE AS SAID SIDE RAILS AND ARE CONNECTED TOGETHER AT ONE END BY A THIRD CROSSBAR, A FABRIC BODY HAVING OPPOSITE LATERAL SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL SIDES AND A BOTTOM, SAID BODY SIDES BEING SUSPENDED FROM THE INNER SIDES OF SAID SIDE ARMS, 